Before social media collabs, fast food brands and movie studios were already masters of viral marketing. Some of these promotions were genius, others were just plain weird. But all of them got people talking. Here are nine unforgettable crossovers between fast food and the big screen.
9. Hunger Games x Subway
In 2013, Subway launched its “Fiery Footlongs” collection to promote The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The campaign, which included a Sriracha Chicken Melt, felt out of touch with the movie’s dystopian themes of poverty and a brutal fight for survival and food. While the sandwiches were a limited-time offer, the context made them one of the most head-scratching promotions in recent memory.
8. The Hobbit Films x Denny’s
In one of the most baffling movie tie-ins, Denny’s created entire menus for The Hobbit films. You could order the “Hobbit Hole Breakfast,” a “Shire Sausage Skillet,” or even a “Lonely Mountain Treasure.” The scale of the menu felt both impressive and wildly off-brand for the simple-living Hobbits. It was a promotion that took the idea of a themed menu to a gluttonous extreme.
7. The Batman Returns x McDonald’s
In 1992, McDonald’s launched a Happy Meal promotion for Tim Burton’s Batman Returns. The problem? The movie was dark and gothic, featuring Penguin who wanted to murder children. Parents were furious, finding the movie too intense for the kids who wanted the Happy Meal toys. The backlash was so severe it led to a temporary rupture in the relationship between Warner Bros. and McDonald’s.
6. Demolition Man x Taco Bell
The collab between Demolition Man and Taco Bell went beyond a simple meal deal. In the film’s futuristic setting, Taco Bell won the “franchise wars,” and as a result, all restaurants are now Taco Bell. This integration into the film’s world-building came with a real-world “Demo Deal” at Taco Bell restaurants. The promotion was so iconic that for the film’s 25th anniversary, Taco Bell recreated the futuristic restaurant from the movie at San Diego Comic-Con.
5. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory x Quaker Oats
This movie owes its entire existence to one. The 1971 classic Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was funded by Quaker Oats as a feature-length advertisement to launch their new line of Wonka Bars. In a surprising twist, real-life Wonka bars had a formula problem and were recalled shortly after release.
4. Forrest Gump x Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
Most tie-ins are temporary, but not this one. The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a restaurant chain with locations worldwide, is based on the popular film Forrest Gump. What started as a fictional shrimping business in the movie became a real-world seafood restaurant in the 1990s. The chain’s success is a testament to the film’s enduring popularity, with each location themed around the movie’s settings and characters.
3. The Real Ghostbusters x Hi-C
Few movie tie-in products have achieved the legendary status of Hi-C’s Ecto Cooler. It was originally released in 1987 as a promotion for the series The Real Ghostbusters. The green, citrus-flavored drink was so popular it remained on shelves for over a decade, long after the show ended.
2. Return of the Jedi x Kellogg’s
In 1983, Kellogg’s released C-3PO’s cereal to ride on the success of Return of the Jedi. The cereal was a combination of sweetened oat, wheat, and corn rings, but the marketing was what made it really strange. The main connection to Star Wars was the name and the image of C-3PO on the box. The cereal was so generic that after Kellogg’s lost the Star Wars license, they just repackaged the same product as “Pro-Grain” cereal.
1. Glass Onion x Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
Taking the top spot for its audacity, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream created a special flavor for the Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion, and decided to make the flavor a mystery. This was a clever marketing gimmick that tied into the film’s theme. The flavor? Onion. Those who dared to try it likened the taste to a cold French onion soup. It was a bold and bizarre flavor that embodied the film’s layered mystery.